The Complete Gardener: A Practical, Imaginative Guide to Every Aspect of Gardening

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Even great gardeners like Monty Don are always learning and always experimenting. Join Monty in The Complete Gardener and discover how he created his beautiful garden, and how you can do the same in your own. Don has described himself primarily as a writer, "who happens to have lots of television work." [9] By the early 1990s, Don had written two unpublished novels, The Clematis Affair and An Afternoon in Padua. He later described them as "excruciatingly bad". [47] In January 1994, Allan Jenkins, then editor of The Observer, invited Don to write a weekly gardening column for the newspaper. The column began in February of that year and lasted until May 2006; Jenkins was his editor for seven years. [9] In a piece from 2004 to commemorate the tenth year of the column, Don wrote: "It has been more life-changing than any other work I have done in my adult life." [48] Don has written articles for the Daily Mail and Mail Online since 2004. [ citation needed] Wollaston, Sam (20 January 2018). "Monty Don's Paradise Gardens review – a heady tour of earthly delights". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 January 2018. How to grow fruits and vegetables with in-depth crop-by-crop explanations and which tried-and-tested varieties to choose from Do not feed plants any more than is absolutely necessary and always feed the soil not the plant. This will avoid a spurt of soft, sappy growth that slugs love. Without stressing them with sudden temperature or cultivation changes, grow your plants as ‘hard’ as possible which means do not mollycoddle them .

Box blight has decimated most of the hedges and topiary pieces he was once so proud of, and some of the hundreds of trees he planted have grown problematically large in places. So it goes. The best-laid plans can be derailed, he says, and even the most experienced gardeners will sometimes get things wrong. But Don’s opinions have also changed. He has always been a passionate organic gardener, but where once he fetishised the cultivation of soil as a ‘measure of manhood’, he now embraces no-dig methods and more gentle interventions. Perhaps the most striking quote from this book is his observation that you need ‘the humility to accept that your garden is not necessarily more important than anything else’. There is an irony in this as despite the cold snaps, much of April is filled with long, sunny days with the tulips breaking hourly into radiant flower and above all else, the world turning green. It requires no materials, no bought in compost, less watering and minimal preparation. It also is likely to produce healthier plants because from the word go the emerging seedlings form a relationship with the microbes in the soil on which almost all their health depends. Brown, David (15 March 2012). "Monty Don: I'd like a "five-year arrangement" with Gardeners' World". The Telegraph . Retrieved 12 August 2020.a b c Sale, Jonathan (2 December 1999). "Passed/Failed: Monty Don". The Independent. London . Retrieved 25 November 2023.

a b c d "He gave up his jewels but found gold in the garden". The Sunday Times. London. 29 October 2006. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 . Retrieved 13 March 2010. Do not use secateurs as you risk injuring the fragile buds growing at the base of the flowers but gather the flower trusses between finger and thumb and snap them off.In May 2022 it was reported that Don had COVID-19 and had been bedridden for four days. [76] [77] He contracted COVID-19 again in May 2023. [78] Other [ edit ] Although there are over 30 species of slug in the UK, there are 4 main garden ones and the biggest do not necessarily do the most damage. What you see is actually a tiny percentage of the population and slug activity and densities of over 250,000 per acre are common. Since 2014, Don has presented three series of Big Dreams, Small Spaces, [39] where he helps amateur gardeners in creating their own "dream spaces" at home. In 2015, Don presented the four-part BBC series The Secret History of the British Garden, charting the development of British gardens from the 17th to the 20th century. [40] Don's next series was Monty Don's Paradise Gardens in 2018, travelling across the Islamic world and beyond in search of paradise gardens and considering their place in the Quran. [41] [42] [43] This was followed by Monty Don's Japanese Gardens in 2019, [44] Monty Don's American Gardens in 2020, [45] and Monty Don's Adriatic Gardens in 2022. [46] Writer [ edit ] I am all for mowing as little as possible. That will mean different things to different people but long grass is one of the best environments for a huge diversity of wildlife in the garden, and long grass with flowers from bulbs, perennials and annuals is as beautiful as anything else you might grow. Everybody is happy except perhaps the those that see tidiness as the prime aim of gardening and children wanting somewhere to play. To satisfy the clatter - very important - it is good to have a patch of mown grass where not only they can play but everyone can lounge and sprawl and enjoy the short grass between their toes. But try and restrict the mowing as much as possible. In our garden we have reduced it right down to mown paths in the long grass. It is not so much the absolute temperature as the variations between night and day that they must become used to. Put them outside in a sunny but sheltered spot and have some horticultural fleece to hand to cover them if their is a cold night, but let them get used to the changes in temperature and exposure to wind and rain that they have not had to face over the past few months for at least a week - and preferably two - before moving them to their final position after the risk of any frost has passed. Planting Lilies In Pots

If you are an amateur gardener like me, and interested in gardening even slightly, start here. Every sentence of The Complete Gardener is thoroughly enjoyable and life enriching as you learn. It’s a personal account of how to be a good gardener with rafts of real advice and guidance from one of our greatest gardeners and garden commentators.

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Overall, this was an enjoyable and educational read. I will be using this as a reference book regularly. I’m looking forward to reading more of his books on gardens and gardening.